Author: garethandrew

We want to do our bit to support smaller businesses who are going to be harder hit and may be concerned about staff wellbeing during the Coronavirus pandemic.

With so many people​ having to​ work from home for the first time and some unable to leave their homes, we would like to offer clients with 2-20 employees free access to Equipsme plans from now until 1 August, after what we all hope will be the peak period of the virus. 

This includes access to remote GP appointments and a telephone counselling line to deal with stress and anxiety if added as an optional extra. Access to these services could help people affected at home and ultimately, keeps the business going. 

There’s no obligation to stay on the plan, and you can cancel at the end of July without paying a penny.

Understand more about our Equipsme health and wellbeing plan by watching our short video below.

The small print but not too much
 
The Equipsme offer is available to businesses who have between 2 and 20 employees. 

All Equipsme Health Insurance plans start after a 21-day window during which employees can upgrade levels, add partners and children. They pay for these voluntary purchases themselves via a separate Direct Debit collection.

As an example: If you add all employee details and commit to buy on 1st April 2020, your Equipsme plan start date will be 23rd April 2020, the business monthly Direct Debit collection date will be the 1st of each month and won’t be required to pay anything until 1st August 2020 onwards. Instalments will then be collected on the same day of each month (based on the employees and cover in force at the time) until the plan renews.

Should a business remove any existing employees or add any new employees during the free period, any monthly direct debit adjustments due before 1st August will also be free.

Businesses can cancel the plan at the end of their July instalment cover period and won’t pay anything.

The offer only applies to the premium payments due from the company bank account for the Equipsme plan cover level(s) chosen for employees.  

This offer does not apply to employee upgrades or adding of family.  Premiums will be collected separately at the normal monthly price via separate Direct Debit.

Support your people through these uncertain times and contact us today.

Email [email protected] or call us on 0330 056 3665

Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Insurance Guidance 

Due to an increasing number of enquiries, from both our business customers and our Private Clients, I thought it prudent to issue our thoughts and guidance from an insurance perspective for our clients. As always, we want to be practical and supportive to our clients and assist in any way we can to allow you (our clients) to focus on your day to day business.

We are very mindful not to add more noise to an ever increasing public dialogue. From an insurance perspective, there are clearly some situations which could develop, but as things stand, the likelihood of significant insurable events for our client base remains fairly low and we must keep that in context. 

Business Interruption –  One of the areas that cause concern is if for whatever reason your premises or place of work is either subject to an outbreak or is caught up in a community outbreak scenario. Fundamentally, this section of policy cover is typically to cover an interruption based on physical damage to your property or surrounding area, however it is not unreasonable to expect insurance cover in this “non-damage” scenario. Our discussions with various insurers has shown that there are different levels of cover that have been given and that not all policies will respond in the same way but to summarise the most common situations –

  • Insurers could cover a specific, listed number of known communicable diseases, e.g. Legionella. There has been a move to this over the last decade (prompted in part by the H1N1 swine flu pandemic in 2009) – which essentially leaves policyholders without cover for the current COVID-19 situation.
  • Insurers could still use a wide “Communicable Disease” wording which isn’t specific and therefore should trigger cover as this outbreak has this week been classified as a “Notifiable Disease” in the UK. 
  • Insurers might not give cover at all for Communicable or Notifiable Disease, or that it is an “optional” coverage that should have been specifically added to your policy.

Notwithstanding which of this scenarios applies to you, there are still further nuances that need to be understood – most notably, whether or not cover applies to a specific outbreak within your specific premise only, or whether it includes an outbreak in your immediate area which impacts on your premise. 

ADVICE – If you believe your business could be subject to a financial loss due to a scenario that revolves around an outbreak in or around your business premises, then please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to work through the scenario with you, and if we agree there is a legitimate insurable interest we can investigate your specific coverage and advise you accordingly.

Travel Insurance – The other key area of impact is clearly travel, and I’m pleased to say that there is a more consistent picture in respect of cover. Our key partner insurers on this class have yet to impose any cover restrictions specifically with regards to this outbreak. That said, it has been mooted that there could be some specific endorsements that might start to be applied to all new policies and any policy that falls due for renewal – we will react accordingly should that be the case.

We are aware of some clients (not ours) who are potentially trying to make claims which are not reasonable – one insurer cited a Directors holiday plan for 6 months’ time, to an currently unaffected part of the world. Clearly in that situation it is unreasonable to expect insurance cover for a pre-meditated cancellation. Likewise, the point of booking becomes quite relevant. If a business (or leisure trip) was booked in good faith, prior to any knowledge of any issue, then cover for cancellation is more than reasonable if this destination is now subject to the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) advice not to travel. If this same trip was booked now, in the full knowledge of the FCO advice, then clearly that is not reasonable and cover wouldn’t be given. 

ADVICE – If you have travel plans that you believe are affected (please refer to the FCO advice first), then please call us to discuss the specific situation and we will clarify your cover situation. Likewise if you have a business or leisure travel requirement then please discuss that with us BEFORE you book so that you can do so with the full knowledge of how your insurance policy will respond should the situation develop and affect your trip.

RESOURCE – FCO / Gov.uk – Travel Advice – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus#foreign–commonwealth-office-fco-travel-advice

Summary

We do not want to cause any over-reaction to this situation, that is not in anyone’s best interest. We always want to provide hands on, practical support for our clients, so on reading this communication should you want to discuss anything with us then please do not hesitate. It’s absolutely what we are here for. 

Regardless of the situation, the likelihood, or the cover that you have or don’t have – the underlying discussion that we continue to promote, and that this situation only highlights is one of BUSINESS RESILIENCE. A fundamental practice when dealing with risk and ensuring your business is resilient against the host of known and unknown threats, is the practice of planning. Yes we place the physical insurance policies which protect you, but we feel our duty and expertise is to help you with this planning and understanding. So, if you don’t feel like you have the right plans in place to deal with any aspect of disruption (insured or not) then I’d urge you to get in touch with me, or your normal point of contact to arrange a specific discussion on Business Resilience planning.

Be diligent, but continue to be successful and let us help wherever we can.

Jon Nottingham Founder & Group CEO

Call us today on 0330 056 3665

Gen2 is excited to announce the partnership with the Tennis Industry Association as their official insurance partner.

The Tennis Industry Association UK (TIA UK) was formed in 1998 as the official not-for-profit trade body for the UK tennis industry with the main objectives of:

  • To help grow the UK tennis economy and provide support to TIA UK members
  • To provide a platform for networking through targeted events
  • To promote innovation
  • To work with key partners that aim to increase participation in British Tennis
  • To provide industry news to help members be better informed

Members range from major equipment brands to independent companies working in the tennis industry. The membership reflects the wide diversity of activity within the tennis economy, from building tennis courts, supplying rackets, balls, apparel and shoes, operating clubs and venues, delivering on-court activity, providing court and training equipment, selling tennis-related gifts and books, delivering research into tennis, offering project consultancy and technical advice, website design and marketing solutions and promoting new technology and innovation to drive and improve the sport of tennis. 

Steve Matthews, TIA UK Chairman commented;

“We are extremely pleased to partner with the Gen2 Group and look forward to working with them in the future”

Paul Dudley, Chairman Gen2Group added;

“We are confident the relationship with the TIA UK will be an exciting and mutually beneficial one, our strategy of working with clubs and the organisations that manufacture, install or provide services to clubs makes the TIA UK an ideal business partner for Gen2.”

Please get in touch with any questions or if we can add value to you in anyway. 

Contact Head of Sport – Andrew Fielding

Email [email protected] or call 07864 348553

Why not take two minutes to tell us a bit more about yourself and what you do below.

Launch me

After 40 short years in the insurance industry our Offshore & Marine stalwart Mick Wood is sadly retiring. Mick has been a pivotal part of the OMIS team for the past 10 years, providing a first-class service to all our clients. 

Mick celebrated his 70th birthday and his retirement last week with a great social send-off enjoyed by all his close friends, family, current and former work colleagues. 

Mick is now looking forward to spending afternoons watching Coventry rugby and his ever-eventful travels around the globe. His warm personality and love of food will be sadly missed in the office and across the Gen2 Group, not to mention the café next door!

We caught up with Mick to ask him about his long career, moving with the pace of a changing industry and how he has planned his well-earned retirement.

Listen to our interview with Mick below:

When considering how to pay a significant lump-sum such as business insurance cover, it’s not as simple as ‘have we got the available cash or credit?’ Specialist premium finance can be a compelling option, particularly where you’d rather reinvest cash into the business rather than depleting your reserves.

The following are a number of reasons why individual consumers and business customers choose to pay for their insurance using premium finance:

  • Improved cash flow – freeing up the lump sum to use elsewhere ensuring customers have the required level of insurance cover without being held back by the upfront cost.
  • Lessens the impact of any increase in insurance costs. 
  • Eliminates the requirement for a large upfront payment to an insurance company, particularly for new purchases.
  • Multiple insurance policies can be attached to a single premium finance agreement allowing for a single payment plan.
  • Avoids the need to liquidate other assets to ensure insurance coverage by using other people’s money (leveraging the premium finance lender’s capital), customer can retain a significant amount of capital known as ‘retained capital’.

Gen2 can provide a simple tool to assess the relative benefit of reinvestment versus the costs of finance. When taking into account the facts that the vast majority of premium finance is off-balance sheet lending and that several policies (with the same inception/renewal dates) can be consolidated under one credit agreement, many opt for premium finance as a smart way to manage cash-flow.

Our partnership with Premium Credit allows our customers to take control over their Finances. Premium Credit is the leading provider of premium finance in the UK and currently helps over two million individuals and businesses spread the cost of their premiums.

Telephone 0330 056 3665  or

Email [email protected]

Well-being Initiatives to Promote Mental Health

Mental health is a state of well-being in which a person can cope with the normal stresses of life, be productive and contribute to the community. Good mental health is essential for functioning as an individual, as an employee and as part of a community. 

As an employer, it’s crucial to encourage a dialogue and support system surrounding employees’ mental health in efforts to reduce stigma, increase awareness and ensure worker well-being. 

The Cost of Mental Health

Mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression are routinely listed as top concerns in employee health surveys, and are a leading cause of workplace absenteeism. 

Even moderate depressive or anxiety symptoms can affect work performance and productivity. Most employees agree that their mental and personal problems spill over into their professional lives and have a direct impact on their job performance. It is in the employer’s best interest to address mental health as part of a well-being programme. Most mental illnesses are highly treatable. However, untreated mental illness can increase the costs to employers in the form of increased absenteeism, work impairment and on-site injuries. Encouraging effective treatment and offering support resources can save costs for employers and improve quality of life for all employees.

Methods for Addressing Mental Health

Employers that support treatment of mental illnesses will reap a wide variety of workplace benefits— including improved employee engagement and well-being, higher product quality, better cost control, greater employee loyalty and an overall healthier workplace. 

Employers can do more to promote integrated mental and physical health by fostering supportive workplaces that encourage self-screening and connect employees to proper support resources.

Consider the following suggestions:

  • Provide materials and messages about mental health, mental illnesses, suicide prevention, trauma and health promotion through brochures, fact sheets, payroll stuffers and online resources.
  • Offer confidential screenings for illnesses such as depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder.
  • Encourage the use of telephone help lines.
  • Offer a variety of mental health presentations and trainings for all staff with an emphasis on prevention, treatment and recovery messages.
  • Offer stress reduction presentations on topics like conflict resolution, managing multiple priorities, project planning, personal finance planning and parenting.
  • Provide flexible scheduling for access to classes during or after work. Classes could include yoga, meditation, physical activity and self-help groups.
  • Create and support a mental health-friendly work environment that accommodates employees who are returning to work after receiving mental health treatment. Allow schedule flexibility to accommodate treatments and appointments. 
  • Educate managers and supervisors in recognising mental health as a factor in performance issues. Address mental health issues specific to their needs.
  • Create policies and practices that provide guidance to supervisors and managers on how to address performance issues. Provide mental health consultation and information, and improve their skills in supervising an employee with mental health issues.
  • Review policies and practices concerning employee privacy and confidentiality, accommodation, return to work, and relevant UK regulations.
  • Evaluate the workplace environment, organisation, and culture with a focus on reducing workplace stress, workload issues and performance reviews. Address employee concerns.
  • Provide employee assistance coordinators to help obtain information about resources in the community.
  • Provide and maintain comprehensive privatised medical insurance cover, which includes mental health in employee benefits packages. Include screening, brief intervention and referral as a covered evidence-based benefit. Offer referral mechanisms to connect employees to mental health treatment services.
  • Offer an Employee Assistance Programme.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/world-mental-health-day

Our customer experience is the centre of what we do here at Offshore & Marine. To make sure we continue to keep our standards high we take our Customer Satisfaction Survey scores very seriously. We engage with customers using fun, conversational forms and surveys.

Why not take one of our surveys here ?

Below you can see how our customer feedback rated over the past quarter.

UK authorities announced on September 20, that Equinor and its partner SSE were awarded contracts to develop three large scale offshore wind projects in the Dogger Bank region of the North Sea. This will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm development with a total installed capacity of 3.6 GW. The projects are expected to produce enough energy to power the equivalent of 4.5 million UK homes.

The Dogger Bank wind farm will consist of three projects, Creyke Beck A, Creyke Beck B and Teesside A.

The clearing prices for the projects are GBP 39.650 per MWh for Creyke Beck A and GBP 41.611 per MWh for the Creyke Beck B and the Teesside A projects (all in 2012 real prices). The auction results reflect the continued cost reductions and technological developments and the increasing competitiveness of bottom-fixed offshore wind. The contracts offer a fixed price for the first 15 years of operation, providing the projects with a long-term predictable revenue stream.

“The successful bids for the world’s largest offshore wind development represent a game-changer for our offshore wind business and support the development of Equinor as a broad energy company. A full-scale development of Dogger Bank will constitute an industrial wind hub in the heart of the North Sea, playing a major role in the UK’s ambitions for offshore wind and supporting the net zero ambition. Excellent wind speeds, shallow waters and scale make Dogger Bank well positioned to deliver low cost renewable electricity to UK homes and businesses,” says Eldar Sætre, CEO of Equinor.

“Dogger Bank, together with the recent award for Empire Wind in the US, positions Equinor as an offshore wind major. These projects provide economies of scale and synergies, making us an even stronger competitive force in offshore wind globally. We expect the cost reductions obtained by the industry through continuous project execution and technological innovation will contribute to continued value enhancement,” says executive vice president for New Energy Solutions in Equinor, Pål Eitrheim.

“We are thrilled at the success of our offshore wind projects at Dogger Bank which combined will be the largest wind farm in the world. Reaching this point has been a culmination of over 10 years of development and it is very exciting to work with Equinor on taking the project forward. We’re confident our wealth of offshore wind experience will enable us to deliver these unique projects. This success demonstrates that offshore wind is the key technology to enable the UK to become carbon neutral by 2050 in the most cost-effective way, whilst also delivering significant economic benefits across the country”, says Jim Smith, Managing Director of SSE Renewables.

The Dogger Bank projects are estimated to trigger a total capital investment of approximately GBP 9 billion between 2020 and 2026.

The joint venture will be seeking non-recourse project financing to fund the Dogger Bank development. A preliminary market sounding of potential lenders has demonstrated very strong interest for UK offshore wind assets.

The partners are planning for final investment decision for the first project during 2020 and first power generation is planned for 2023. Further phases of the Dogger Bank project will be developed thereafter.

The joint venture has selected SSE as the lead operator during the project construction phase and Equinor the lead operator for operations. Both companies will second personnel into the execution and operations teams.

The awards were given under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) competitive auction held by National Grid on behalf of the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which has successfully commissioned 6 GW of offshore wind to reach a target of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030.

Facts about Dogger Bank:

  • Located more than 130 km east of the Yorkshire Coast in the UK North Sea.
  • Water depth ranges from 20 m to 35 m.
  • Each project will have an installed capacity of 1.2 GW. Together, they can cover approximately 5% of the UK’s estimated electricity generation.
  • The first project is expected to be operational in 2023, and the lease is given for 50 years.
  • The Wind Turbine Generators (WTG) are expected to be 10+ MW, installed on monopile foundations.
  • The transmission system will be High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) due to the long distance to the onshore grid connection point. This will be the first use of HVDC for offshore wind in the UK.
  • The Contract for Difference is for 15 years and indexed for inflation. After the CfD support, each project will receive the market price for electricity.

*Source Ocean News & Technology

The world’s largest all-electric ferry, has connected the ports of Søby and Fynshav on the islands of Aerø and Als, in southern Denmark. 

E-ferry Ellen, capable of carrying approximately 30 vehicles and 200 passengers, is powered by a battery system with an unprecedented capacity of 4.3MWh provided by Leclanché SA one of the world’s leading energy storage companies. The motor system was supplied by Danfoss Editron.

The project demonstrates that replacing fossil fuel thermal drives with clean energy, can thus contribute to the fight against global warming and pollution for the well-being of the local communities.

Follow the below link to read the full story.

https://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/vessel-build-and-maintenance/ship-and-boatbuilding/battery-ferry-makes-first-commercial-trip

Shipping losses can dramatically cut into your bottom line, making it essential that you do everything you can to ensure that your goods are transported safely.

Preferred Goods

Thieves are not indiscriminate in their selection of targets. Certain types of goods are more susceptible to theft. Computer hardware and other consumer electronics, designer clothing, pharmaceuticals, and alcohol and tobacco products all have a history of being highly targeted. In general, thieves look for products that:

  • Are difficult to identify as stolen
  • Are small but have a high value
  • Are easy to transport
  • Are easy to resell

While you should always strive for strong security measures no matter the cargo, if you regularly deal in goods that have these characteristics, it is especially important that you institute anti-theft controls.

Mitigating Theft Risks

Start with the hiring process.While the value of selecting good drivers cannot be understated, you need to diligently check all of your employees involved in the process. Whether it’s a warehouse worker or an office clerk, if an employee knows about a lorry’s cargo, planed routes or any other logistical information, they have the potential to be a liability. Use aggressive background checks during the hiring process to ensure that you are bring on trustworthy employees.

Give employees the training they need.Not every employee will come to the job knowing what they need to do in order to prevent cargo theft. It is important that you institute an employee training programme that outlines their responsibilities. This is especially important for drivers; a driver who exhibits basic tenets of security is less likely to be targeted.

Maintain security during transit. Obviously, loaded vehicles are much more vulnerable while stopped. This makes it important to plan appropriate routes that allow drivers to take rest stops at secure areas. However, while routes should be chosen for their safety, they also need to be alternated frequently as repeatedly using the same route can give thieves a better chance to plan. Also, it is not uncommon for thieves to monitor shipping centres, waiting for an attractive target and then following the vehicle to its first stop. Encouraging drivers to put on at least 300 kilometres before their first stop can reduce the chance they will be followed.

Use technology to your advantage.Vehicle and cargo tracking devices, security seals, tractor air locks, locks and other devices can all be used to provide additional security. Depending on the cargo, a minimal investment in security devices could save you from a huge loss. Keep in mind, for these devices to be fully effective, employees need to be trained on how to use them. You also need to have a plan in place for alert features. If an on-board alarm signals you of a potential problem, you need to have a response planned out and ready to go.

Offshore & Marine can arise and protect you through every step. Contact us today.

0330 056 3665

[email protected]